


When I grow up

by Rioghna



Series: Daddy's Little Girl !verse [8]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Daddy's little girl 'verse, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-15
Updated: 2016-07-15
Packaged: 2018-07-24 02:23:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7489614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rioghna/pseuds/Rioghna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Baelfire approaches his father about what he is going to do with his life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	When I grow up

 

 

When I grow up

"Papa, can we talk?" Rumplestiltskin looked up from the experiment he was working on. His son was standing near the door, well trained in the danger of startling a sorcerer, especially at his work. Bae looked very serious, and his father set down the flask in his hand and came around the table, a look of concern on his weatherbeaten face. He hadn't heard any trouble, but he had been busy.

"Of course, son. Is something wrong?" he asked, waving the lad to the settee in the corner.

"No sir, nothing's wrong," Bae reassured him or tried. Whatever it was, his son was not expecting him to be happy about it. He was always more formal when he thought he might upset his father. "But my name day is coming up..."

"Yes..." the sorcerer encouraged. Suddenly he had an idea what this was going to be about and it certainly wasn't about a present, which was good, because that had already been arranged.

"It's time I started making decisions about what I wish to do with the rest of my life. I mean, most of the lads my age have been apprenticed already two years or more, and I've just been..." he shrugged.

They both understood what wasn't said. Bae's age was a little vague at best, and they had unilaterally decided to ignore the time in Neverland, as time didn't pass properly there, and consider him the age he was when he disappeared. Once he was back in the Enchanted Forest, he was busy getting to know his new stepmother, and his little sister, not to mention rebuilding a relationship with his father, to focus on anything else. When he'd brought it up, Rumplestiltskin had told him to take his time and figure out what it was he truly wanted. "Before you had few choices, but now there is no hurry," the sorcerer had told him. Since then, Bae appeared to be doing just that. He'd learned the ways of his father's woodland under Graham, the gamekeeper, gone with his father to deal with a matter of local justice (having a powerful and temperamental sorcerer as your lord meant most of his subjects kept the peace, but it couldn't always be helped) and with his stepmother to attend to matters of local welfare. But this was the first time he had come to talk to the sorcerer about what he was thinking.

His father was watching him, waiting patiently for him to have his say. One thing that he had learned, that he _didn't_ want to just be Rumplestitlskin's son. He wanted to do something that was entirely his, to make his own name. Unfortunately, Bae knew that his father wasn't going to be thrilled with his decision. "I was never the spinner you were," Bae continued finally.

"I never wanted that life for you, anyway," Rumplestiltskin responded, trying to take some of the pressure off. "But what would you like? I can probably arrange an apprenticeship anywhere, then there is scholarship, the Great Library..."

"I want to be a knight," Bae blurted out suddenly. It wasn't the way he wanted to tell his father, but all of his carefully constructed arguments had fled him. Rumplestiltskin wasn't keen on any of it, the military, wars, fighting, but of course he wouldn't be. He'd been a peasant conscript, underfed and under equipped in a war that couldn't be won. But the world was a different place now. Convincing his father though, that was going to be another matter, he expected.

"A...knight," the sorcerer repeated in shock. "Why..."

"I want to make my own name, Papa. I mean, you are a lord of the land, a noble by deed, not by heredity. I want the same, I want to earn my place, not just be..."

"You could do that by..." Rumpelstiltskin started to say, but he realised he had no argument, not one that would make an adequate point. He shouldn't be surprised, really. Bae had always been one for playing at knights with his friends, and, to be sure, he had all the right attributes, faithful, loyal, always one to defend those in need. Sometimes it was hard to believe that this young man was his son, except that he was. Bae _was_ his through and through, stubborn, hardworking, and unwilling to just be handed something he didn't feel he'd earned. The other question was who would take the Dark One's son to squire? Oh there were probably several who would do it to curry favour, or for a deal, but that was not going to satisfy his son either. _Damn_ , the sorcerer thought. He had promised Bae he would support him in whatever he wanted to do. He had also promised never to go back on his word to his son, ever again. _Why does the boy have to do the one thing that terrifies me more than anything else?_ Rumplestiltskin took a deep breath to calm himself. It wouldn't do to take his fear out on his son. "Have you considered who would be willing to squire you?" he asked. He kept his voice level and smooth. He could break something or several somethings later. It was hard enough for Bae, he could see that, asking his father for permission, knowing as he had to that the sorcerer would hate the idea.

"I...I've asked King David, Papa," Bae gulped.

"You what?" the sorcerer hissed. That felt a lot like going behind his back.

"I asked him if he would take me to squire if I could get your permission. I...I didn't want to ask you if he said no, and I didn't want you to ask for me. I didn't want him to take me _because_ of you." Rumplestiltskin nodded. He understood. He even respected his son's reasoning. It didn't make him like it any more.

"And what did Charming say?"

"He said he would be glad to, as long as I had your permission. Do I?" Bae asked, all in one breath.

 

Baelfire was coming down from the tower where he met Belle and Rose, looking like they were heading up to see Rumplestiltskin. "I'd leave Papa alone for a bit," he told them. "He's..." There was a loud crash and thump from above.

"Bae?" Belle asked, looking up.

"I told him. I asked his permission to train as a knight," he told her. "And about King David." He had discussed the best way of approaching his father with her already. His father had definitely married the right woman this time, of that, he had no doubt. Belle was not quite as against it as his father, though she expressed her own concerns. Certainly she knew how to deal with Rumplestiltskin's moods.

"What did he say?" she asked, ignoring the sounds floating down from above. They had reached an agreement long ago about his temper. If he needed to take his mood out on the furnishings, he could do it in his own tower and put it all right afterward.

"He agreed," Bae said with a little bit of a smile. "I think he's even proud that I made the arrangements myself. It doesn't ..." There was another heavy thud.

"It doesn't make him any happier or less worried about you," Belle agreed. "We had best get ready then. We will have to celebrate, and of course, I'd best start thinking about what I'll need to pack for us to go to the capital. Probably a new gown is order. Rose, do you want to go and visit Princess Emma?" she asked.

"Is papa going with us?" Rose asked, looking up a little worried.

"Oh, of course he is, it won't be for a few weeks. Right now he just needs..."

"Papa has to do something he doesn't want to do, Rosie, so you want to come down to the stables with me to visit the horses?" Bae asked, reaching a hand out for his little sister.

"Visit Papa later," she agreed, taking his hand.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, this story started with an idea that came to me while I was writing 'Another Lizard Problem' for Tinuviel_undomiel, and I needed to get it out. Please enjoy, and leave a comment in the little box.
> 
> The title comes from a Song in "Free to Be, You and Me" which, among other things, shows my age, but I always appreciated it. If you've never seen it, look it up, I think most of it is on YouTube


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